The purpose of this proposal is twofold: (1) to demonstrate the need of the School of Nursing, The Oregon Health Sciences University, for a research-oriented resource person in geriatric mental health; and (2) to describe the nominee's plans for obtaining the necessary expertise in research aspects of aging and mental health to assume such a faculty leadership role in the institution. The nominee's goals during the three-year award period are to: (1) Gain indepth understanding of theories and research on mental health and aging that are relevant to nursing practices; 2) Acquire systematic knowlege of and experience with specific quantitative research designs and methods applicable to nursing research with mentally impaired elderly and their support systems in community and institutional settings; 3) Acquire systematics knowledge of and experience with advanced statistics and data analysis procedures; 4) Refine clinical assessment and nursing major of the School of Nursing masters and doctoral program in collaboration with department faculty; 6) Develop geriatric mental health nursing intervention and research utilization projects with faculty clinicians and nursing staff on selected integrative units of University Hospital. Activities include formal coursework, independent study, and conducting research in institutional and community settings. Plans for supervision, consultation with experts in aspects of mental health and aging, and external evaluation have been established.